Cats, Deer, and Other Stuff

We had a beautiful mix of winter and autumn on Tuesday, but by Wednesday the snow had disappeared and we were back to autumn. The trees are still beautiful but they are becoming barer as the leaves fly off. The delightful thing about the leafless trees is that we can see deeper into the forest. We can also see the sunrises and sunsets better. In the summer, the trees block the horizon so we can’t see the sun until it’s much higher in the sky. In the winter months, we also get a better view of the stars.

The view out our living room window. Our neighbor’s red-roofed house is more visible now.

However, with the trees getting barer, we can also see our neighbors’ house much more clearly. They live in a red-roofed house on the hill across the road. It kind of spoils the view. I would much rather see trees than houses so a few weeks ago, I gathered pinecones from the trees at the bottom of the driveway and threw them in places that–if they grow–will block the view of the neighbor’s house in the winter.

This morning I walked down to the mailbox for our mail. I was beginning to look through the mail when I noticed a spider on the top of the bundle. It was either a large normal spider or a small wolf spider–I wasn’t really focused on identifying it. I stifled a scream and tried shaking it off, but it didn’t move so I picked up a stick from the ground and scraped it off. I bravely did NOT throw the mail into the air and run. The spider didn’t move and I would have thought it was dead except it must have been alive to crawl onto the mail. Seriously, I’m beginning to think these spiders are deliberately trying to scare me. I imagine them having a meeting to plan how next to terrify me.

A couple of months ago I took the Christmas lights off the two wire deer that the previous owners left behind. We were going to throw the deer away, but I grew rather fond of them so we kept them. I put them on our property. I have fun periodically moving them around–EJ and JJ have no idea when or where they will appear. This morning I moved them again. I put the leaping deer on the slope of a hill so it looks like it is bounding uphill. I put the other one on the top of a hill at the side of the house. I suppose is my version of the “elf on a shelf” tradition, only I’m doing it all year long.

Leaping Deer

Standing Deer

Kee-Kee and Timmy on the bed.

I was very tired yesterday because the night before Kee-Kee and Little Bear woke me up and then I had trouble getting back to sleep. Kee-Kee is getting older so we have a little heart-shaped two-step stool next to our bed so he can more easily get onto the bed. It prevents him from clawing his way up and ruining the bedspread. He likes to sleep on my pillow next to my head and he often climbs up the stool onto the bed and then walks right up my body with no attempt to avoid stepping on me. Wednesday night he curled up next to me so I could feel his breath in my ear. Then, as he sometimes does, he crawled up right on my face. Believe it or not, it’s difficult to sleep with a cat on your face. I figured that as long as I was awake, I might as well use the bathroom. When I returned to bed, Little Bear was waiting and he got on top of me as soon as I got into bed. It was difficult to shift him so I could cover up with the blankets. Often Timmy sleeps on top of me too. I like sleeping with the cats, but now and then we have a difficult night. I also have an interesting time trying to make the bed in the morning with the cats around! Cats sure make life interesting!

Yesterday morning I unblocked the pet door so the garage cats can go inside if they want. Josette seems content to stay in the garage at this point, but Madeline went roaming, which she loves to do. I happened to look out the living room window yesterday and saw her come up the driveway carrying a mouse-sized critter in her mouth. I was able to get a very brief video of her as she went around the corner of the house. I assumed that she was taking it into the garage, but I haven’t seen it.

I have a new item for sell at Teric’s Treasures. They are beautiful snowflake dreamcatchers that you can hang in your window or on a Christmas tree. This is my first try at making dreamcatchers and I think they turned out quite well. Click on the photo to go directly to my Etsy page to place an order.

Snowflake Dreamcatcher

Tomorrow is EJ’s November birthday. (For those who don’t know, we have so much fun going on adventures on my birthday in early October that we decided to take turns celebrating our “birthdays” throughout the year. Calling them our birthdays make them seem more fun. EJ’s official birthday isn’t until March. ) EJ is tired from a rough week at work and he wasn’t sure what to do for his birthday. We have several errands to run and tasks to complete this weekend, and since we always have fun just spending time together, we decided that we’d spontaneous “play it by ear” and take advantages of opportunities that come our way.

I don’t write much about JJ because he would prefer his privacy. However, I will tell you that JJ just got hired as a security guard at a shopping mall. He’s excited because it’s more in line with his goal of becoming a policeman than working in the deli at the grocery store is. He had about a 3 hour orientation today. He will give his notice at the grocery store tomorrow. He has also been trying to find an affordable apartment so he can get out on his own. He still only working part-time so I don’t know when he can afford to move out, but he is at least looking. We think he’s ready to gain more independence. So his life is moving forward…

2 Comments on “Cats, Deer, and Other Stuff”

Wonderful news about JJ. When I worked for the local newspaper and wrote a weekly column my daughters cringed each week that the paper came out until they read what I had said hoping it wasn’t about them. They also knew to behave or something might appear. Life with children, and pets is always interesting.